Response of broiler chickens to jojoba oil and silver nanoparticles dietary supplementation

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Jojoba Oil and nanoparticles of Silver supplementation on growth performance, viability and economics in broiler chickens. A total of 192 Ross 308 broiler chicks (1-day-old) were allocated to 4 experimental treatments: CONT (control diet), JO (CONT diet with 150 mg/kg of Jojoba oil), Nano-Ag (CONT diet with 4 mg/kg nanoparticles of Silver), and JO+Nano-Ag (CONT diet plus Jojoba Oil and nanoparticles of Silver). Each treatment had 6 replicates of 8 birds. The experiments lasted for 35 days. Starter and grower diets, based on corn and soybean meal, and water were available ad libitum. Body weight and feed intake were measured from 0 to 35 days. Body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were calculated. Survivability rate and cost economics were calculated. Statistical comparisons were performed using a One-way ANOVA. Supplementation of JO and Nano-Ag separately as well as in the form of combined usage, increased (P<0.05) body weight and body weight gain compared to CONT. Supplementation of broiler diets with JO, Nano-Ag or their combination improved feed conversion ratio, without any significant effect on feed intake. Interestingly, a lower mortality rate was recorded in the supplementation groups and, therefore, a higher net return was observed. Hence, the present study demonstrates that supplementation of JO and Nano-Ag separately as well as in the form of combined usage, improved growth performance and economic return of broiler chickens.